1. Technical Field
The device relates generally to surgical instrumentation and, more particularly, to a loading unit for supplying a plurality of surgical needles and; associated sutures to a surgical suturing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types and styles of suture packages have been developed to hold surgical needles and associated length of suture for use during a surgical operation. These devices typically include a folded pouch containing a single needle and suture combination. To access the needle and suture, the package is unfolded and the needle/suture is removed by hand. During many surgical procedures, it is generally considered desirable to place two or three lines of stitching in tissue sections, such as, for example, to provide reinforcement when performing an anastomosis. A device for holding a plurality of sutures and needles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,636 to Gabbay et al. Gabbay et al. disclose annular organizer members for holding multiple sutures each having a needle attached at one end thereof. Another device for holding several needles and sutures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,898 to Thyen et at. The device of Thyen et al. includes a plurality of holders for surgical needles and a channel around the outer perimeter of the device to hold the sutures associated with the needles.
In using these various suture packages, it is often necessary to manually remove the needle/suture combination by hand and insert them into a surgical suturing apparatus. A dispenser for holding surgical needles and anchors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,878 to Jones. The Jones dispenser is configured to hold the needle anchor in a position to be grasped by a manipulating tool.
Many surgical procedures call for placing stitches through tissue, a procedure traditionally accomplished by hand. It is desirable to remotely join tissue together by passing a needle, having a length of suture material attached thereto, back and forth between jaws located on opposite sides of the tissues. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,470 to Stenson. Stenson discloses a skin-stitching instrument that includes a pair of arms configured to alternately receive opposed ends of a shuttle needle. The shuttle needle with an attached length of filament is passed alternately back and forth between the arms to remotely stitch tissue together.
Laparoscopic suturing presents an even greater challenge because it must be accomplished through a port that typically averages between five and ten millimeters. One instrument for facilitating laparoscopic suturing is discussed in British Patent Application No. 2260704, published Apr. 28, 1993.
Although the suturing device described in British Patent Application Serial No. 2260704 can be used to place laparoscopic sutures, once the suture is used up, or if a new needle is required, the suturing device must be manually re-loaded, which can be time-consuming. As it is generally considered desirable to place 2 or 3 lines of stitching when performing an anastomosis to provide reinforcement, the laparoscopic suturing device as described in the British Patent Application mentioned above requires manual reloading one or more times.
Thus, during many endoscopic procedures, it is necessary to rapidly and accurately place successive needle-suture combinations within the jaws of a surgical suturing apparatus for immediate and repeated use during the surgical procedure. Further, it is often necessary to grasp the needles at specific locations along the needle body to facilitate suturing such as, for example, at one end or the other. Thus, it is desirable to have a needle and suture supplying device which is capable of supplying a plurality of needles and positioning them within the jaws of a surgical suturing apparatus. It is also desirable to have an apparatus receiving structure associated with the device for receipt of a surgical suturing apparatus and to guide the apparatus into position for precisely grasping opposing ends of a needle such as, for example, a double ended surgical incision member, between the jaws of the suturing apparatus.